WESTFIELD – Former Springfield police patrolman Danilo Feliciano was acquitted Wednesday in an assault and battery trial stemming from a 2009 incident in which he and other officers allegedly beat his niece’s boyfriend and poured bleach on him.

Feliciano was on trial in Westfield District Court for one day before the jury began deliberations Tuesday. Between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, jurors deliberated for about two hours.

Rolando E. Rivera, then 19, was arrested on charges of assaulting a police officer at his apartment at 73 School St. on September 24, 2009. Charges are pending in Springfield District Court that Rivera assaulted his girlfriend, Tatiana Ayala, earlier that day. She then filed a criminal complaint and restraining order against him.

Police had gone to the apartment to investigate the report.

Feliciano was fired after an internal investigation found he had violated department standards in the incident. He was charged with the assault after Rivera alleged he had been beaten by several officers during his arrest and that they poured bleach on his body and clothing.

He denied the charge in his arraignment in January 2010.

Feliciano was the only officer charged. Another officer, Patrolman Pedro R. Mendez, was also fired after he was accused of falsifying the report of the incident. They were the only two officers named in the report.

Mendez wrote that Rivera was the aggressor and Mendez defended himself by punching him several times.

Rivera accused Feliciano, a nine-year veteran of the force, of beating him with his gun and said he suffered a fractured eye socket in the alleged attack.

During the trial, Ayala said she did not tell Feliciano about the alleged domestic assault, but did inform Rivera she had obtained a restraining order against him.

As a member of the gang intelligence unit, it was not clear why Feliciano went to Rivera's apartment. Lt. John K. Slepchuk testified that he sent other officers to assist Feliciano in Rivera's arrest, if needed, and that Feliciano told him he knew about the alleged domestic assault.

Hampden County Assistant District Attorney David Gagne said the alleged beating was Feliciano's revenge on Rivera. Defense attorney Robert C. Butler said Rivera is seeking revenge and financial compensation from the Springfield police, as well as the dismissal of his own charges.

Arrest and hospital treatment records said Rivera told medical personnel he was injured falling down stairs. In some instances, he said the presence of Mendez and Feliciano scared him into lying about how he was hurt.

After the verdict was read, Feliciano’s only comment to the press was that a look at past coverage of his career would show “what kind of guy I am.”

In 2008, Feliciano was one of four patrolmen who, along with Mercy Medical Center emergency room staff, saved the life of a 4-year-old girl who almost drowned in the swimming pool at the Holiday Inn on Dwight Street.

Also in 2008, he was credited with preventing a woman from jumping from the second floor of an apartment building and saving a 10-month-old baby who had reportedly stopped breathing after falling out of her playpen.

Butler declined to comment further.

Hampden County District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said the commonwealth presented the best case it could consistent with the evidence.

“I respect the verdict of the jury (and) our system of justice,” said Mastroianni. “The case played out in the system.”

Feliciano did not indicate to The Republican if he wanted to return to the force. Delaney said he had appealed his firing, but the appeal last month was rejected and Fitchet's decision to terminate him was upheld.